❖ Does Masturbation Break the Fast?
Source: Fatāwā Amunpuri by Shaykh Ghulam Mustafa Zaheer Amunpuri
❖ Question:
Does masturbation invalidate the fast?
❖ Answer:
Some scholars maintain that masturbation during fasting invalidates the fast. Their opinion is based on the following evidence:
❀ Sayyidunā Abū Hurayrah رضي الله عنه narrated:
يَتْرُكُ طَعَامَهُ وَشَرَابَهُ وَشَهْوَتَهُ مِنْ أَجْلِي
“He leaves his food, drink, and desires for My sake.”
Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī: 1894, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim: 1151❖ Opinions of Scholars:
✔ Imām al-Samarqandī al-Ḥanafī (d. 540 AH) said:
"If one masturbates with the hand and ejaculation occurs, then the fast is invalidated, because he has fulfilled his desire through his own action."
Tuḥfat al-Fuqahāʾ, p. 358✔ ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ رحمه الله said:
"If a fasting person ejaculates, his fast is broken."
Muṣannaf Ibn Abī Shaybah: 9482 — Chain is authentic (ṣaḥīḥ)✔ Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah رحمه الله (d. 728 AH) said:
"Whoever masturbates and ejaculates, his fast is invalidated."
Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā: 25/224✔ Imām al-Rāfiʿī رحمه الله (d. 623 AH) said:
"If semen is discharged due to masturbation, the fast is broken. If it happens through mere thoughts or looking (without action), the fast is not broken."
al-Sharḥ al-Kabīr: 6/388✔ Imām Ibn Abī al-ʿIzz al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 792 AH) said:
"Some scholars said that if a person masturbates with the hand, his fast is not invalidated. However, this opinion is disputable. According to al-Dhakhīrah, this was the view of Abū Bakr and Abū al-Qāsim. But most of the senior scholars and the three imāms (Abū Ḥanīfah, Mālik, and Shāfiʿī) disagreed with this view."
al-Tanbīh ʿalā Mushkilāt al-Hidāyah: 9/207; al-Bināyah by al-ʿAynī: 2/330✔ ʿAllāmah al-Ṭaḥṭāwī al-Ḥanafī رحمه الله (d. 1231 AH) said:
"If someone masturbates with his hand, the majority of scholars have issued fatwā that his fast is invalidated. This is the preferred opinion."
Ḥāshiyat al-Ṭaḥṭāwī ʿalā Marāqī al-Falāḥ, p. 658❖ Preferred (Rājiḥ) Opinion:
The stronger opinion appears to be that masturbation does not break the fast, because there is no direct evidence for it.
✔ It cannot be analogized (qiyās) with intercourse (جماع) for several reasons:
– Intercourse nullifies the fast and requires expiation (kaffārah),
– Whereas those who believe masturbation breaks the fast do not consider kaffārah necessary in such a case.
✔ Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله (d. 1420 AH) said:
"If the opinion that masturbation invalidates the fast were correct, then it would have been more deserving of requiring kaffārah than intercourse without ejaculation. Yet they do not hold this view. This highlights a contradiction in the reasoning of those who use analogical deduction (qiyās)."
Tamām al-Minnah, p. 419✔ Imām Ibn Ḥazm رحمه الله (d. 456 AH) stated:
"Some scholars consider the fast invalidated by ejaculation due to deliberate stimulation, yet there is no evidence (naṣṣ), no consensus (ijmāʿ), no statement from a Companion, and no valid analogy to support this."
al-Muḥallā bi’l-Āthār: 4/338✔ Shaykh al-Albānī رحمه الله further said:
"There is no proof that masturbation nullifies the fast. Comparing it to intercourse is invalid. This is why Imām al-Ṣanʿānī said: the correct view is that both qaḍāʾ (making up the fast) and kaffārah (expiation) apply only to intercourse. Applying qiyās to other acts is far-fetched. Imām al-Shawkānī and Imām Ibn Ḥazm also inclined toward this view."**
Tamām al-Minnah, p. 418
Summary:
① Majority of classical scholars say that masturbation invalidates the fast,
② But there is no clear textual evidence for this view,
③ The stronger opinion is that masturbation does not break the fast,
④ However, it is impermissible and sinful, even if it does not break the fast,
⑤ One should perform tawbah (repentance) and avoid all forms of desire-stimulation during fasting.
